Happy New Years eve!

New Years Eve was fun. Matt's mom Susan is in town and we spent the evening playing Rummikube. Levi helped by rearranging the tiles every chance he got.

The unfortunate news was that Matt's grandma Venetha and aunt Tina were driving to Idaho and went off the road on black ice and then the car turned on its side. Venetha had some chest pains from the seat-belt and went to the hospital but they are both ok.

Levi had a long day as he only napped a little in the car going to and from Tri-Cities. He was up with us until midnight to bring in the new year. He liked to watch the fireworks from the window but when we took him outside they made him a little nervous. He went to sleep within 10 minutes of being put down.

Giant Artichokes

Tonight we had artichokes for dinner - look at the size of these! And they were good!

Second Christmas

We all had a very fun day yesterday. My brother Wes and his wife Joanie were in town and came over to join us for breakfast. Oma KP also came over. We had potatoes, eggs/cheese/stripple on a english muffin and a variety of cereals as well as grandma's canned plums and clementine oranges. Everyone ate until they were stuffed and then we went to Sabbath School and Church. Levi was kind of in a mood during S.S. and would have occasional fits. There were a couple other kids there and the later it got, the more showed up.

After church we went by to see Oma's new house that she found to live in since she accepted a job offer in Pendleton. The house is in Walla Walla however, a 2-story with basement 4 bedroom on a dead-end near a golf course. It has been for sale for a year and a half and most older people that like the location do not want the stairs. So she will be renting it for now until something else works out. She is looking for a roommate to split the rent, if anyone is interested it has a full finished basement.

One through with that we came back over to our place for lunch. I had made swedish meatballs (new recipe) last night in advance, thinking I had another white pasta sauce in the cupboard to go with it. Well I didn't so we ended up having spaghetti and red sauce. I sauteed some mushrooms and garlic and vegeburger for the sauce to bulk it up a little. We also had green beans and rye bread. The meatballs were from another recipe I found in cooking light magazine. I had to substitute vegetarian chicken but they turned out really well and were quite easy! They were also a smash hit, so I will include the recipe below.

After lunch Levi was pretty tired but Wes insisted we have our presents before he went down for his nap. Levi was a riot, opening his gifts and tossing them if they were clothes. He got a lot of nice things from Oma and Wes and Joanie, so thank you guys for all the great gifts! Levi went down for his nap and we decided to play some games. Wes and Joanie had bought us Rumikube so we played a couple rounds of that. Oma doesn't like that game so she left for awhile.

Later we also had another new recipe (I love the holidays, so much time to experiment!) - Pumpkin Pie Shakes. They taste just like liquid pumpkin pie. Also very easy and will include the recipe below. After Rumikube Levi woke up so we moved to the tv and played some rousing rounds of Family Feud. This is fun because you can customize all the people to look like members of your own family.

Wes and Joanie left about 8 pm and mom was back so we watched a movie on our instant netflix. We all agreed on Mr Jones, an older Richard Gere movie, but it wasn't very good. When that was through we were all exhausted and went to bed.

RECIPES:

Swedish Meatballs

2 slices rye bread
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast (or one can vegetarian chicken)
3/4 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 large egg white
1 tbsp canola oil
1 c. chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 (8-oz) carton sour cream
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Place bread in food processor; pulse until coarse crumbs. Put in medium bowl and set aside. Place chicken in food processor and pulse until ground. Add chicken, 1/2 tsp salt, nutmeg, pepper and egg white to breadcrumbs, stir until combined. Shape into 16 meatballs (they will be small)

Heat oil in saucepan, add meatballs and cook about 6 minutes, browning all sides. Remove meatballs from pan. Add remaining 1/4 tsp salt, chicken broth and flour to pan, stirring with whisk until blended. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, cook about 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Stir in sour cream and add meatballs. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.


Pumpkin Pie Shake

2 c. vanilla ice cream
1 c. milk
2/3 c. canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
3 tbsp frozen whipped cream
pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Combine first five ingredients in blender, process until smooth. Pour 3/4 c ice cream mixture into each of 4 glasses. Top with 2 tsp whipped cream. Sprinkle with additional pumpkin pie spice, if desired.

In the kitchen with mom

Today I am pleased to report that I made crepes for the first time evah. I had some old copies of Cooking Light that I had grabbed off the free counter at work and had been meaning to go through them and rip out recipes that looked promising. One looked particularly good. Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom crepes. Well mom was in the neighborhood and stopped by for a visit and lunch, so we worked together to make this dish. I made the crepes and she made the 'insides.' Crepes, I found, are not difficult to make but they are time consuming. The recipe also suggested that I put the batter in the fridge for an hour before frying but I didn't do that because I was starving by the time we got started.

Here's the recipe for basic crepes;

1 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
*combine*

1 c. milk (since this came from cooking light they call for non-fat or low-fat)
1/2 c water
2 tsp butter
2 large eggs
*combine in blender*

Add the flour mixture, process until smooth. Cover batter, chill for 1 hour.

Heat an 8" non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pour 1/4 c. batter into pan; quickly tilt pan in all directions so batter covers pan with thin film. Cook until edges can be lifted and underside is lightly browned. Flip and cook another 30 seconds to one minute until center is set. (Use a thin spatula for turning) Place crepe on towel to cool. Use wax paper between crepes for stacking on a plate. This makes about 10 crepes. They can be refrigerated or frozen.

Here's the recipe for Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom crepes;
(please note, I adapted this recipe for vegetarians and to suit my own tastes)

1 c. minced onion
1 clove minced garlic
8 oz pre-sliced mushrooms
3 c. chopped chicken (Fry Chick or Fried Chik'n)
1/2 c. sliced green onions - I didn't have any so left this out
3/4 tsp salt (divided)
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach - thawed, drained, squeezed dry

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/4 c. milk (again, called for low-fat or non-fat)
1/4 tsp black pepper

10 basic crepes
1/2 c. cheese (recipe calls for Monterey Jack with jalapeno peppers but I used sharp cheddar)

1. Sautee onion, garlic, mushrooms. Stir in chicken, green onions, 1/4 tsp salt and spinach.
2. Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, stir with whisk. Cook one minute stirring constantly. Add milk slowly, cook until thick. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/4 tsp salt and pepper. Pour over chicken mixture, stir.
3. Turn on broiler
4. Spoon 1/2 cup of mixture into center of crepe. Fold ends and sides over. (like a burrito) Place seam side down into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Broil for 2 minutes or until lightly browned.

Merry Christmas!

Levi woke up about 6:30 and "want out please" so Matt got him up and he gave me a BIG Christmas kiss on each cheek and then a Christmas hug. Then they showered and Matt shaved to let me sleep in a little, but I couldn't go back to sleep so we all got up and opened our stockings.

Then I made some eggnog pancakes for breakfast. In the meantime Matt and Levi made some raspberry muffins. We also had omelets and fried potatoes. A real satisfying and tasty breakfast!



Jerry and Gail came by with some gifts so after we ate we had our gift exchange. They got us a bunch of vegetarian meat foods that we will enjoy in the months to come. They also had a special gift for Levi - a green wheelbarrow. He started putting stuff in it right away.



We opened our other gifts too. There were some little trains and books from grandma Joyce and Orville Baer; grandpa Shackley had sent him a learning animal game; we got him multiple Hot Wheels cars and a battery-operated train for his wooden tracks (thanks for the idea Laura and Tim!) He made out pretty well and I have a feeling that there will be more to come.


Grandma Joyce also made a beautiful quilt for our little girl on the way, and a pair of overalls and two darling hats. Thanks grandma, they are just lovely!

When it was all said and done Jerry took a photo of us by the tree.

Later today we are going to Venetha's for lunch and visiting with other family members. For now Levi is recharging (napping)! :)

Christmas Eve

Today I got off work early (yay!) at 4 pm. We all went over to Tiffany and JDs to take them a couple of presents for the twins and visit for a bit. Then we came home and Levi did some coloring. After that I started on dinner. We had curried rice and baked salmon. While that was cooking we all got to open one present. The dogs got a can of meaty goodness. I got an adapter that I can use to plug in both the chicken water bowl and their light. Levi got a Hot Wheels car and Matt got a pack of super glue. We like to open one little gift each on Christmas eve.

While we ate dinner we watched an episode of Seinfeld. After that I read Levi some books. Tonight he wanted me to read him the story of the Jungle Book and then a book on creation. He is pretty tired so after that we put him to bed. (Although now he is back up and playing with his train that runs around the tree) We had hoped to drive around and look at Christmas lights tonight but Levi didn't really get his nap today so we thought it best to take him another time (maybe tomorrow night). We are hoping perhaps Jerry and Gail can join us now that we are driving 'the beast' around.

Speaking of the beast, Matt got pulled over today by an officer of the law. He was getting onto the highway and a large chunk of snow from the roof fell down onto the hood. There was not really a place to pull over so Matt continued on his way since he could still see a little bit around it. Well a cop decided to pull him over for it. As the cop was walking up to the window, Levi said "Police Car!" The cop asked Matt if he knew why he pulled him over. Matt said "because of the snow that fell down?" and the cop said "Yes, usually people will pull over and take care of that. So why don't you do that right now." So Matt took care of it and got back in the beast. He waited awhile and wasn't sure what to do. The cop had not given him a ticket and didn't have his license or anything so he walked back to the police car and asked if there was anything else. The cop said he was just keeping people off his tail. But that we needed mud-flaps and quoted a law. In all the years I have owned this suburban and as many times as I have been pulled over in it (ok, not many but I am sure a few) no one has ever said anything about mud flaps.

At 8 pm we are going to watch It's A Wonderful Life on tv because I have never seen it.

Any rate that was our day. How was yours? How do you spend Christmas Eve?

Only two days 'til Christmas

We have had a busy couple of days.

Sunday night we decorated the Christmas tree. Levi was so cute trying to help me put them on. Although, he has had just as much fun pulling them off since then!

Monday was another long day of caring for the horses in the snow morning and night. Hiking out to the hay shed was particularly trying as the snow was up over my knees as I tried to flounder through it. At least the roads were plowed by Monday night! Although, would you believe I made it all the way there and then got stuck in their driveway! Thankfully I was able to rock myself out within about 10 minutes.

When I got home Matt worked on getting the hood of the Suburban defrosted so we could get in there to charge up the battery. He was successful and got it started off the charger. He let it run for awhile and then drove it around front. The next morning it would not start again. So he put some water in the battery and now it is running like a champ.

Matt's cousin James and wife Jennifer and baby Andrew stopped by for a visit over lunch and brought pizza. Thanks guys! Andrew is sure a happy little guy, knawing on James' fingers and cooing and babbling.

More snow in the forecast. A white Christmas for sure. Yikes - time to get that shopping done! :-o

Oh Christmas Tree...

We started out this morning by eating a brunch with the Bobbitt family at grandma Venetha's house. All the way there Levi would say "go to GiGi's house" and "pick grandpa up" and even "Taco Bell" because he knew the way to pick up Jerry like they do every Friday. Most of the cousins were there, even James from Spokane with his son Andrew, who is younger than Levi. When it was time to leave, Levi waved and said 'Bye Bye' to everyone by name, even "Bye bye Baby" to Andrew.

Well we thought it was about time that we got into the holiday spirit and brought home a tree. First we had to go to storage and unload what was in the back of the truck. We have had a screen door back there for a couple of months. We got it from someone off WallaWallaFreeCycle, which I would advise checking out on Yahoo Groups if you are so inclined. It's a great place to post up stuff you want to get rid of, or a good place to find free stuff. I have given away a few things, and picked up some things as well.

Storage had only minimally been plowed but we got along ok. In all this white it can be hard to see where the road is at times. Afterwards we came home to drop off some things we had picked up at storage and in the meantime Matt made up some hot chocolate for all of us. What a treat! Then we headed over to Fern Street to see what sort of Christmas Trees they had to offer.

We walked around the lot and the trees looked pretty good. One of the workers came over and told us all the Douglas Firs were only $15 for any size tree because they don't like the snow and cold very well and it is a bit of a risk to take one, but with only a couple days left until Christmas anyway, they should be ok. We saw one or two we liked and then he told us he had one left in the back that had been bound and covered up all this time so it should be better than the ones that had been out on display. What a nice guy. He asked how high our ceilings were - we thought 9' so he cut about a foot off the bottom of this one. He opened it up for us and shook it out and it looked nice a full to me, so we bought it. What a bargain for $15!

So the man loaded it up for us and we brought it home. Levi fell asleep on the way. He woke up however once we got inside. So we cleared a place and brought in the tree and Levi was pretty excited. We are going to wait until after his nap to decorate it though, give it a chance to relax and open up a little more.

Matt put on some Christmas music by Diana Krall so now I am finally starting to feel like I am getting into the Christmas spirit with the smell of Fir in the house and the sound of White Christmas. :) At this rate - it certainly will be a white Christmas!

Snow Photos ~

This is looking out our front door. You can barely make out the Camaro there on the curb to the right.


Levi out and about in his winter protection.


I think that might be banana bread in his right hand :)

Friday at last!

Barn chores weren't too bad this morning. Last night Darold had a guy come out and fix the two faucets that were frozen, so that made life a little easier. One of the orange kittens followed me to the stallion barn, then started exploring and forgot to follow me back and couldn't find the path. He (?) was mewing quite loudly so I went back out and called to him. He walked across the top of the snow as best he could and I was shocked that he didn't sink to the bottom.

I should get a break form barn chores tonight and tomorrow if Darold can make it back home safely. The good thing about all this extra work is - I have been sleeping well at night again! I fell asleep on the sofa last night during Iron Chef America. I wonder how long I can expect that to last. I have already started to feel the little gal kicking at me in the evenings and sometimes during the day.

Levi and Matt accompanied me on the drive to work this morning, as they need the truck for lunch with grandpa Jerry today. I was relieved to find that Levi's blue winter coat from last year still fits him - actually much better this year! Hooray! I also got him some little gloves at wal-mart and he did not object when I put them on. So we are ready to try playing in the snow again this weekend perhaps!?

I hope to post some photos this evening of the show we have gotten.

For now, here is the local weather forecast, for comparison from weather.com and NOAA weather. Looks like it wants to warm up a little. Maybe. Crazy how different these two sources are!

Snow Day

The snow has started up again and my mood has gone down. I was really feeling sour after I pulled into the parking lot at work and noticed how many people were taking up two spots by pulling in crooked and not bothering to back up and straighten out. Where did they get their license anyway, out of a cereal box? Grumbling, I had to back clear out and find another (tight) spot in the other lot.

It snowed all day. Giant icescicles have formed on the ledge outside my window here at work. Total snowfall today was estimated at 12 1/2 inches. More snow predicted over the next week, in addition to colder temperatures. I had planned to work until 6 pm to make up some time but left about 5:30. I had a lot of anxiety about the roads but as it turned out I was able to get around just fine. The side streets are tough because they haven't been plowed but the good ole' white truck gets me through.

We are having to take the chickens warm water twice a day because otherwise it just freezes up too fast. The feed stores are sold out of tank heaters for livestock and have a long waiting list when they get their shipments in. I overheard that no one bought snow tires this year (likely due to the economy) and today Les Schwab sold out of tickets early in the morning for their entire day worth of work (through 7 pm)

Matt shoveled the sidewalk for me before I got home and the snow was up to my knee. Yikes!

Following - an article from KNDU TV

Officials of the Cities of Walla Walla and College Place as well as Walla Walla County are asking people to stay off City and County roads if at all possible through 9 pm tonight, December 18. This will allow road crews to keep roads cleared and passable.

According to County Public Works Director Randy Glaeser some county roads are currently impassable due to snow drifts. "Road conditions within the County are more severe than some people may realize, including whiteout conditions in some areas."

Please only travel if absolutely necessary until this weather subsides, which is expected to occur at approximately 9 pm tonight. This will give crews a chance to clear the roads.

The next little Bobbitt...

Brrrr!

Well this morning at 6:30 am on my drive to the barn, I heard over the radio that it was currently 2 degrees in Tri-Cities. Other reports from around town at after 7 am said 4 degrees. Well it is freakin' cold!!

Sinwaan's water heater does not appear to be working so I am breaking ice for him every time I go out there. I am so thankful that I hung onto my snowboarding gloves! They are dual-layered and the outer layer is waterproof so I can break the ice and then fish it out from the tanks with my hands. Then of course my fingers stick to whatever else I touch next - and freeze stiff before I get to feeding.

The first thing I do is knock the ice out of the cat's water dish and put some fresh in it. Well that was frozen over by the time I was done cleaning the stalls - about 40 min later. Wow!! The kittens don't seem to mind the snow. They are always sitting in it.

I had to haul water to a couple of troughs this morning. I hesitate to try using the one hose because I can get by without it. I forgot to disconnect one of the other hoses and it did freeze stiff. Thankfully all the other spigots are working. The horses seem to be doing well despite the frigid temperatures. I try to look for shivering when I am out there.

Levi has gotten chapped from his time outdoors so I am trying to keep that under control currently. Anyone have any foolproof suggestions? For now I am putting Vaseline on his face. He also looks like he is starting to fight another cold. Poor little guy. Well I guess he needs some mittens before I put him back out into the snow.

Today Levi counted to seven! Very exciting!

Tomorrow's the big day... we'll see if the next little Bobbitt co-operates for us.

Sunday News

I know many of you are anxious to know about Matt. The good news is that he made it up there with plenty of time to spare. He left before 2 AM last night. He was done with the test by about 1:30 and feels he did well on it but he won't have results for 7-10 business days. He made it back home safe.

In other news, Levi counted up to six this evening at dinner. Wow! He also drew on our computer monitor this morning (with a Sharpie!) while I was out tending to the horses at the barn. I did some research and found that rubbing alcohol with a q-tip was probably my best bet. I did get it off and no ill effects.

Another thing that Levi did that surprised the heck out of me was to climb up on the computer chair this evening and move the mouse around and clicked it in order to start up a steam locomotive video on You-Tube! Woah!

Temps are dropping and predicted to be colder tomorrow with more snow on the way. Not what I wanted to hear! I LOVE a white Christmas, but not at 11 degrees! :)

Levi art 2008

Brrrr! First snow of 2008

For the first time in over a week I did not have to set my alarm this morning. We awoke to a winter wonderland outside and chilly temperatures. I believe it was in the neighborhood of 17 degrees when we got up. I was surprised to see the chickens all still roosting at 8 AM. Usually they are all up and scratching about as early as 5 AM. I pottied the dogs (Buddy loves the snow and spins and romps about), and tended to the fowl and even then they did not care to step about in the snow. So I spread their corn in the bottom of their coop. Their water was frozen solid so I had to bring them new (warm) water.

After that I went out to do the barn chores. It took me two hours this morning because many of the stalls had snow in them and that made for a much heavier load the in the cart than usual, taking me two trips out to dump instead of just one. It is a good thing I had plugged in most of the water heaters last night as two of them had frozen over. Everyone seemed well and I even had a chance to pick out Sinwaan's feet.

By the time I got back home it was too late for breakfast so Matt heated up some soup for me as I sat and groaned about my aches and pains. :)

Later in the day we bundled up Levi and set him free in the front yard to see what he would do with the snow. Well of course he wanted to put his hands all in it and that didn't last too long because it was too cold and he started crying. Poor kid. I don't know if we have gloves his size or not. We came right in and warmed by the fire, and Matt made us hot chocolate.





Enjoy the photos. Survivor Finale on tonight! Don't miss it!

Christmas Breakfast

Alarm went off at 6 am and I hit snooze a couple times. I slept better last night but still got up once at 4:30 am and had some trouble getting back to sleep again. I preheated the oven and got dressed. I put the cinnamon rolls in the oven before I left the house and told Matt to get up when he heard the timer in half an hour.

As usual, it was dark on my drive over to the barn and I didn't see the sunrise until I was almost done with the first barn. Once everyone was fed and happy, water tanks checked, I headed back to the house to see how the buns turned out.

What a glorious smell greeted me as I opened the front door! I said "hello?" and I heard "mama's home!" and Levi ran over to greet me. Matt was working on the icing for the buns and they looked great.



We got dressed and ready for church and headed out. We saw some snowflakes coming down lightly. As we drove east towards church the light snow turned into heavy snow and before we knew it there was snow all over everything and it was slowing people down on the roads. On the off-ramp Matt tested the brakes and was surprised that it was slicker than he thought. He also had some fun fishtailing the truck when he took off from the stop sign. Yikes.

Arriving slightly early at church (for a change) we picked out a table. Soon Tim and Laura, and Jenee' and her parents joined us. Once the time came, a line formed quickly and filled the hallway. There was a great variety of fresh fruits, muffins, sweet breads, cinnamon rolls, and some warm dishes. At the end of each line was a industrial-size pan with biscuits and a vat of gravy. It was great! Levi ate a fair amount of fruit but didn't seem that excited at all the possibilities on his plate. People just kept swarming in. The room filled up fast and then the overflow rooms. What a turnout!

During church there was a special service for the holiday but I didn't see much of it because Levi decided to be loud and we went to the Cradle Roll II room where we found Rachel and Lucas. Levi had fun playing in a pan of raw lentils (to simulate dirt) and plastic vegetables (a 'garden') Matt said he really enjoyed the drama parts of the service.

When we got home Levi was almost asleep in his car-seat so it was straight to the crib for him.(And no snow was sticking in this part of town!) I was tired so I went to bed too. I finally got up at almost 5 pm and Levi woke up about the same time. I started on dinner since we hadn't eaten since breakfast. We had small shell pasta and fried polenta with corn. I thought I had spaghetti sauce on hand but as it turns out I didn't, so had to get creative with a can of crushed tomatoes, mushrooms and a variety from the spice rack. It turned out just fine.

After that we went out to tend to the horses again. The snow had really been coming down. I plugged in most of the water heaters (but not all because I don't want to blow a fuse) and fed everyone. I also disconnected all the hoses. The kittens scampered about and seemed to be enjoying the snow. I hope it doesn't freeze too badly. It could be a real problem for me (well, the horses) if it does.

On the way home we stopped by to see Oma KP to drop off some cinnamon rolls, and Debbie was visiting when we arrived. So it was nice to sit a spell and chat with both of them. Debbie got a kick out of hearing Levi talk.

Matt is trying to decide when he will head up to Seattle and what route he will take for his test on Monday.

Well now it's midnight and here I am blogging. Time for bed! (Although I do enjoy SNL's Weekend Update, and tonight was Amy Poehler's last night)

Taco night

We were invited over to tacos at the Kyles. It was a dark and stormy night... but the company was delightful and the food warm and tasty. Laura even tried out a pumpkin nog recipe on us. It was good. Levi called it "chocolate milk." Well, I have a ways to go before his palette is completely developed :)

After dinner the kids had a great time playing with Peter's toys, and Peter and Maddaly had a rousing game of chase about the house. Tim worked on his cinnamon buns and told us his baking secrets.

Upon leaving, we went home (Levi went to bed) and I changed shoes/coat and went out to the barn to tend to the horses. The weather was windy but not freezing yet.

When I got back I made up the dough for grandma Joyce's cinnamon rolls. It went much better this time. I got a great rise from my dough so things were looking up. However I was almost out of butter so I decided not to make the traditional bottom/topping and opted for an icing instead. Not my first choice but I figured it would work out.

At midnight my rolls were made and had a slight second rise and into the fridge they went!

The letter U

Levi came up behind me saying "meme u". I turned around, and there on the floor Levi had fashioned the letter U with his hotwheels track! I expressed my amazement, and then asked him if he had made it, to which he proudly nodded his head and said "Yes."

-Matt

Drs. Appointment updates

I had another appointment with Dr Karmy yesterday evening. I was the last appointment of the day. I weighed in at a 5 lb gain for the month. At first I was excited because I thought I weighed less than last time but no such luck. But it was less of a gain then the previous months so I guess I'll take it.

I got to hear the heartbeat, it was between 142-152 bpm and I measured right at 18 cm which is where I should be. I really don't think I have been feeling much movement but she said that is normal for this stage. It should be increasing pretty soon.

The nurse gave me a chart for my ultrasound and I got scheduled for that next Wednesday (for all you curious people who want to know the gender) we will be finding out that morning. IF the youngling is co-operative!

I had a person tailgating me on the way home. I thought a couple times the person was following me. Well I wasn't going to lead them to my house so I faked a turn and they went flying around me. When we got to the next red light I saw the plates were LEM - Law Enforcement Memorial. I am not sure what you have to do or be to get those sort of plates but I was not impressed with their driving. They eventually turned off in front of me and I was relieved.

After all that excitement we took Levi to see the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in College Place. We were too late to participate in the drawing (too bad, I won last year) but Levi really enjoyed seeing the fire engines and got a kick out of the tree lighting also. Then another fire engine came pulling in with his lights on and parked right next to us and Santa got out the other side. We don't care about Santa so we went home after that but Levi had a great time for the short time we were there.

This morning I got up at 6:20 AM (horrors!) and went out to take care of all the horses at the barn where I board. Mucking stalls, checking water, feeding hay and oats. What a lot of work!! I did not get done and back into my truck until 8:09 AM so I guess I will have to get up even earlier tomorrow to make it back to work on time! I have not slept well all week so as you can imagine, this combined with hard work and pregnancy makes me absolutely exhausted!! I am hoping with all this exertion I will be able to sleep well tonight.

Today Levi told me on the phone that he was going to "eat tacos" at "Taco Bell." He is having lunch today with grandpa Jerry and Matt.

What an appetite!

For breakfast this morning Levi ate 2 plums, 2 clementine oranges, 2 fried eggs, 3 little links and 6 pieces of Crispy Crowns. I can not believe the food this kid puts away in the mornings. I think he fuels up and then lives off of it the rest of the day. He doesn't eat very much for lunch or dinner, no matter how many options or how much I put in front of him.

His new phrases are "Red means stop" and "Green means go, go go!" Also "Want help you" when he needs someone to help him with something. He is doing great with his colors and also counting. This morning he counted up to five! Surprised me because lately he has only gone as high as three.

Last night we went to see the Parade of Lights downtown. Levi sat up on Matt's shoulders most of the time. He also sat on my shoulders when Matt got tired. He is getting heavy these days! Levi was a little apprehensive at first but when he saw the big tractors all lit up and the semi-trucks honking their horn as they came through he got excited. We saw some people we knew both in the crowd and in the parade. The weather this year wasn't too cold either. Maybe next year we can manage to take a camera.

A morning at the barn

This morning after breakfast the sun was shining and it looked like a beautiful day so we decided to go and visit my horse, Sinwaan. He has been rather neglected lately and I looked forward to seeing him again. I took him some apples and briefly entertained the idea of riding. I thought perhaps I could settle for a short bareback ride instead. When we walked in the barn I remembered the kittens. Levi spotted them and off he went in hot pursuit.

I grabbed a halter and lead and out we went to see the horse. Sinwaan was appreciative of the apple and took his time chewing it up. I haltered him and led him over to the arena. I tried to get him up against the fence so I would have something to hoist up from but he wasn't too crazy about that idea. Matt finally came in and stood on the other side of him so he would stop swinging away from me. Sinwaan was a little wary of the Matt/Levi combination as Levi was up on Matt's shoulders.


After a couple tries I got on but that lasted about a second and he jumped right out from under me. So I decided to stop trying that for the day.

I took off his lead rope and turned him loose and encouraged him to get the ants out of his pants. He snorted and blew and took off. He cleared a small jump that someone had set up and did some sliding stops and just plain showed off. It is nice to see him feeling his oats. Even with his thick winter coat and dirty as ever he is breathtaking with his ground-covering floating springy trot. My goal for tomorrow is to get back out to the barn and clean this poor horse. His mane is quite tangled. He gladly ate up the other apples I had on hand for him and we called it a day.

Going back into the barn Levi was excited to once again find the kittens and he would pick them up and carry them all over. The kittens were very good sports. There are two orange ones and one calico. Little adorable fuzz-balls. Too bad Matt's allergic!

Cinnamon Buns

Last night I decided to make cinnamon buns. I found a recipe on the internet while I was waiting to hear back from my Grandma Joyce for her recipe. I agreed to make cinnamon buns for our church's Christmas breakfast next weekend and thought I had better practice first since I don't remember making these in the past. Well maybe once but it was over five years ago and I don't know where that recipe went, or how well it worked.

The recipe from the internet called for orange zest. While I was grating my orange peel, I slipped and got my thumb knuckle. OW! So then I had to wear a bandaid as it started bleeding pretty bad. Well, that meant kneading the dough was out so I drug up my bread machine. I set the dough in there and set it to knead. It took me about an hour to figure out how to run the darn thing and finally I could hear it kneading the dough. Yeay! Levi thought that was awesome and couldn't help but open the lid and close it. Open, close. Open, close. The recipe said knead for 3-5 minutes. I don't know how long the machine kneaded it. The consistency felt right when I pulled it out and put it in a bowl to rise. I set the timer for an hour and went to read my latest book.

Matt's grandfather has sent me numerous books which are 'Melanie Travis mysteries' about a woman who shows dogs and stumbles across murder mysteries. They are amusing.

After an hour I went to check on my dough. Hmmm. Hadn't risen much at all! So I set the bowl by our living room fake fireplace where it was warmer. I read my book some more and did some laundry. Still no lift to my dough. Hmmm. Not a good sign. I decided to move on to the next step anyway. Roll out and melt butter and mix the brown sugar and cinnamon. Got that done and then melted the topping for the bottom of my dish.

The recipe said to slice my roll into 13 pieces. So I did. Then when I went to put them in my dish it said arrange them so they are touching. Well I did that and I had 1/3 of the dish empty. Hmmm. This was not going very well! So I rearranged them and put them in the fridge overnight.

I got up early this morning to preheat the oven and then pop them in. Then I went back to bed while they baked. I must say it is nice to get up to the smell of cinnamon rolls, even if you are worried they didn't turn out.


The heat from the oven helped the dough to rise a little bit but not like I had hoped. And while I ate my bun for breakfast it was a bit dense. Not my ideal bun! I guess I will try my grandma's recipe next and hope for better results! While I liked the orange zest in the dough, Matt didn't care for it. So I will leave that out next time.

Italian Bistro

New place in town to eat - the Italian Bistro. It's where the Homestead used to be. It has been remodeled. Service was great. You get breadsticks with your meal as a precursor. One was really hard (Levi knawed on that one and asked for water every 5 seconds). Mine had the consistence of bread that's been microwaved - chewy but not in a good way.

We bravely ordered our meal; a spinach and artichoke appetizer, which was very good. I got salmon with a side of angel hair (amazing), and Matt got a chicken pesto penne which he really liked. Levi ate lots of bread and some of our pasta. He ate all my broccoli & squash which was kind of a garnish on my plate so there wasn't much of it. He behaved for the most part but did have one episode of shouting "daddy!" over and over. So we tickled him and that seemed to work.

The sign out front said "Grand Opening" but there weren't many people in the restaurant.

Warning - there is no changing table in the bathroom but it is a single-use with plenty of room.

Prices were fair. Check out the menu on the link above.

Welcome to December

Here we go, rolling into December. Levi has increased his use of the word Honey! when he wants something from Matt or I. It is really strange. He is continuing to try out other news words and phrases which can be quite comical at times. Last night he said to me "Want bubble bath." I said ok! Why not? He will bring me books and say "read to me" and then he wants me to read the same book again. And again. I tell him "go get a different one!" and he will.

We all had some sort of bug over the weekend. It started with Levi the night before Thanksgiving and while we adults got mild versions we still stayed home the rest of the weekend. Well, not quite. We did go to lunch Sabbath at Matt's grandma Venetha's house. It was a celebratory dinner for his cousin's birthday. Thanksgiving meal #2, as it were. Levi and I came home from that after a couple hours as he needed his nap, and Matt stuck around to visit.

Friday we went shopping at Macy's black friday sale. We had some gift cards from Susan. I am sure glad we didn't get up at 5 am to beat the rush - they have no maternity clothes at all! I did find a sweater that will work though. And Levi needed clothes. Matt found some stuff too.

Not much to report on otherwise. I did some baking yesterday, pulling out an old favorite from Matt's great-grandmother for persimmon cookies. I ate about 1/2 a cookie but that's it because they contained "nut meat" (what I put in was pecan meal). I got a sore tongue and a headache right away. Enough for me! But Matt and his dad loved them.

Jerry had come over for part of the day to play model trains with Matt, they got his decoder working so when they hook the train to the laptop it makes all kinds of train sounds and they can adjust the headlight and I don't know what all it involves. It's a very grown-up toy. Levi loved it.

I made an on-the-fly lasagna for lunch. What that means is I took whatever looked good that I had on hand and threw it in. I sauteed garlic with mushrooms and vegeburger and added cottage cheese and sauce and baked it up. It turned out very tasty.